Departure
by misgiving
Summary: Gippal and Rikku meet up before Gippal leaves for the Crusaders. Pregame. Gippal x Rikku [ one shot ]


**Disclaimer: Neither FFX nor FFX-2 belong to me.**

**_Takes place before the start of Final Fantasy X.

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**Departure**

He had been sitting there on one of the cliffs by the oasis for quite some time when she decided that she would walk over to him. She had followed him when he left and had been standing watching him as long as he had been sitting there. She took a few steps closer, then felt like running back to Home. However, when she got a bit closer, he looked over his shoulder with a smirk. "Sneaking on me, are you Rikku?"

She greeted her teeth as she smiled. "My father's not happy with you."

Gippal raised an eyebrow and smirked again as he said, "Ra'c macc rybbo fedr oui."

"And that is unusual how?" she said with a small laugh and climbed up the small cliff. She felt rather uncertain if she should sit down next to him or not, but after a while she found it quite dull to stand up and shift her weight from one foot to the other so she sat down next to him. The silence remained for a while longer until she broke it, "When are you leaving?"

He glanced at her with a grin on his face. "Want to get rid of me?"

"No!" she exclaimed.

"As soon as possible," he confessed, answering her question, and turned to face her. "Will you ever leave Home, Rikku?"

She didn't know what to answer. Her hands fell into her lap and she glanced quickly at him. "I don't know. Uh, probably not."

"Fro hud?"he asked and raised his hand to her hair to tug at one of her two braids. "Wouldn't it be kind of cool to go out and explore Spira instead of doing everything Cid tells you to do?"

"Hey, I don't always do what my pop tells me to do!" she answered and nudged his arm with her elbow, as she laughed heartily. "Besides, I'm helping the summoners, remember? You should, too. I mean, we need your help. Actually, we could use anyone's help right now. It's getting harder and harder these days. They usually have loads of guardians now."

"What do you mean? I'm going to help!" he said as he picked up a small rock that had been lying next to him. He held it tightly in his hand before throwing it into the water below them. "By joining the Crusaders."

She seemed at loss of words for a moment, staring at the water, but as it was quite unusual for Rikku to stay silent for a longer time, she spoke again. "But you'll come back, right?" she asked softly, making him turn his head to look at her again. "Because I'll miss you if you don't."

He grinned at her before he quickly moved his head closer and pressed his lips against hers. The kiss didn't last long and it was nothing special, but her heart started pounding so hard that it almost felt like it would burst. Even when he pulled back a few seconds later, her heart kept beating faster than usual.

She stared at him as he grinned again at her expression. She wasn't sure if she wanted to push him down into the water or kiss him again. "Whatcha do that for?" she demanded. He laughed lightly at her and touched her hair again. "_What_?"

"You know, if I would die fighting against Sin and never had a chance to kiss you, then that would be a tragedy, don't you agree?" he said and laughed at her when she tried to shove him off the cliff. He had embarrassed her greatly and he knew it, which made him want to laugh harder. Through the laughter, he said, "If you ever leave Home – I mean _really _leave Home – come and find me, will you?"

"How am I supposed to find you?" she said, brows frowning. "You could be anywhere in Spira by then! You're so weird, Gippal! And what if you do die when you're fighting Sin then I-"

He cut her off by jumping down from the cliff and landed in the dusty sand. "I won't."

"But-"

"_E fuh'd_," he repeated in a steady voice. She blinked down at him, before starting to climb down after him. He watched as she lost her grip and fell into the sand with a thud. He smiled and squatted down next to her, "I won't, okay? Don't worry."

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**My very first FF fanfic (that I've published on the net anyway).**** I hope that it's okay… Kind of short, though! I'm not sure what I think. Anyway, thanks for reading! I adore Gippal/Rikku! **

Ra'c macc rybbo fedr oui. _He's less happy with you._

Fro hud? _Why not?_

E fuh'd. _I won't._


End file.
